A/N
hOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER SUCKS IM SO SORRY. I needed the events of this chapter to happen before some other stuff happens, so I tried to write it as best as I could but it's just sorta a mess. Please forgive me for that. Things are gonna pick up with some insane PBJ romantic tension in the next chapter so don't worry.
Disclaimer: I, once again, do not own Homestuck, and I probably don't need to put these on every chapter, but there's no way I'm stopping now.
Chapter 5
Your name is Karkat Vantas, a friend of yours is in the hospital, an acquaintance of yours has not left her house since the incident happened, and another friend of yours is towering over you as you walk to the run-down hospital two miles away.
The more you walk around this town, the more you learn about it. There's a separate section not far from the park with a bunch of large houses, and most of the buildings there and everywhere are in some sort of slight disrepair. Back-alley fights are fairly common and it's a bit hard to ignore them but Dave assured you during yesterday's meeting at the park that you'd be able to tune them out after awhile. However, said towering friend walking next to you seemed to have a habit of glancing down every alley and side street you passed as though he was looking for someone.
"You look more nervous than usual," you remark.
"I don't normally look nervouth, do I?" He replies, glancing in between two apartment buildings.
"Keep telling yourself that," you say with a tiny smirk. "Anyway, what's up?"
"There'th jutht thith guy," Sollux says. Your heart skips a beat and you can't pinpoint why. "I've gotten into fightth with him before and I know he hangth around here. I'd rather not run into him."
You let out a breath you hadn't know you'd been holding.
"It'th not a really big deal," he says, noticing your tension. "I can take him. It'th not like we'll get thtabbed or anything."
"What the fuck is with you guys and stabbing, anyway?" You huff, suddenly finding the sidewalk very interesting.
"It'th jutht a thort of running inthide joke, jeeth!" Sollux says.
"Well I don't like it," you reply with a sudden apprehensiveness.
Soon you arrive at the hospital, and a feeling of uneasiness washes over you. You hate hospitals with a burning passion. They smell like medicine and are way cleaner than you are comfortable with. Plus, it's hard to get January off your mind when you're walking through the place.
Sollux already has Tavros' room number, sparing you the trouble of asking, so that's a slight upside.
Once you get to the room, you see Tavros propped up against the bed, playing Jenga with a half-asleep Gamzee. Actually, they both look pretty drowsy. Maybe you should come back later.
"Holy fuck, you guyth look exauthted," Sollux comments as soon as he enters the room, about two seconds after you.
"Yeaaaaaaaah," Tavros says. The word is long and drawn out as though it's Vriska speaking. "I couldn't, uh, sleep, so they had to, uh, drug me." He seems unable to concentrate on what he's saying, and is throwing in more "uh"s than usual.
"And I stayed up with him all motherfuckin' night," Gamzee says, carefully choosing a block to slide out from the tower. "They wouldn't drug me, though, so I got less sleep than him."
The tower topples. "Jenga, I, uh, win," Tavros says lazily.
"Give us a summary of your injuries and we'll leave," you negociate. "As long as you promise to get some sleep."
"Well, I'm, uh, paralyzed," Tavros says. "They said, I'll, uh, probably never walk again."
"Doeth it, like, hurt?" Sollux asks.
"No," Tavros answers. "I'm on, uh, several things, I believe, and, uh, painkillers are one of them."
"I'm not thure if that'th a good thing or not," Sollux replies.
"Nah," Gamzee says with a yawn. "He's been motherfuckin' loopy all day."
"Well," you begin, awkwardly rocking back on your heels. "You guys need sleep and we should get going." You grab Sollux's wrist and pull him forcefully out the door, and you can see his face go a bit pink. You can just hear Gamzee laugh before you take off down the hallway.
"Okay," Sollux begins, once you're outside. He begins leading you in a seemingly random direction, switching it so he's grabbing your wrist. "Tho you don't like thtabbing joketh or hothpitalth. Good to know."
You can feel your face go red. "What the fuck gave you that idea!?"
He lets go of your wrist. "KK, you were tenth the whole time. And you were thuper eager to leave. It wath kind of hard not to notithe."
He leads you into a tiny corner coffee shop with barely anyone there. The walls are painted dark green and the tables all have mosaic designs on them, as does the front counter.
"Why are we in a coffee shop?" You ask, as he walks up to the front counter.
"Why not," Sollux shrugs. He orders something and then glances at you.
"Fine but you're not paying for mine, and this isn't a date," you sigh, ordering an iced tea.
Your drinks come and you find a small table by a window, covered in a mosaic design sporting a fish and some underwater plants. The chair isn't that comfortable but you suppose it's because they look so nice; sacrifices must be made for art.
"Alright, thpill," Sollux says, leaning forward a bit.
"What?" You reply.
"Let'th thee," he begins, "you moved here to ethcape crime, you get all nervouth whenever thomeone mentionth thtabbing, and you hate hothpitalth; I think I can put two and two together."
The air grows thick with dread, at least for you. You go quiet for a second.
"You don't have to talk about it, it'th okay," Sollux says.
"No, I'll talk," you begin shakily, "it won't be very easy to keep it a secret, anyway."
"Tho did thomeone you know get thtabbed, or killed, or thomething?" Sollux asks. You shake your head and take a sip of your tea.
"No. It was me. I got stabbed," you say a bit quietly. "In January. As soon as the school year ended we moved."
"Do you have a thcar?" Sollux asks immediately. You nearly slam your head against the table.
"Jesus Christ I just told you I got stabbed!" You exclaim. "Yes I have a scar."
"Can I thee it?"
"Fuck no."
Sollux laughs and you don't see what's so funny. "C'mon, let'th get out of here."